A Daily Blog Featuring Jazz Age Music from the 20's and 30's and More!

Tuesday

JANUARY 31ST

Happy Birthday Eddie Cantor!

BIRTHDAYS

1892

Eddie Cantor, vocals/actor

d. Oct. 10, 1964, (Beverly Hills) Los Angeles, CA. USA.

Heart Attack. né: Isadore Edward Iskowitz.

Also known as "Banjo Eyes" or "The Apostle of Pep".

Biography
~by John Bush

No other entertainer proved successful in as many fields as Eddie Cantor during the 1920s and '30s. Nicknamed Banjo Eyes and the Apostle of Pep for his endless reserves of energy and showmanship (he would literally jump around the stage while performing his favorite numbers), he began his career touring in vaudeville, was promoted to the more legitimate theatre of Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies, recorded many hits for Columbia, translated the success to film during the late '20s, became the biggest radio star of the 1930s with the Chase & Sanborn Hour, and later moved to television as well. Similar to many stars of that period, Eddie Cantor was born into humble circumstances on New York's Lower East Side. The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, he was orphaned at the age of three and sent to live with his nearby grandmother.

While working odd jobs for local merchants, Cantor began singing and juggling in the streets for money, and soon moved to talent contests early in his teens. His first professional spot was on Gus Edwards' vaudeville youth act, Kid Kabaret, where he began doing an impression of Eddie Leonard singing "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider" (he later revived the standard continually as a tribute to his wife, Ida Tobias). Cantor began working the vaudeville circuit and while in Los Angeles, he caught the eye of songwriter Earl Carroll, who found a job for him with his theater show Canary Cottage.

Cantor's next step up was a big one; Florenz Ziegfeld, one of the most important stage producers in America, convinced him to come back to New York to take a part in his Midnight Frolic (the energetic Cantor even followed his nightly performance with a vaudeville show elsewhere). After graduating to the popular Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, Cantor soon became one of the most successful actors in the country, and his recording of "That's the Kind of Baby for Me" on Victor (from the Follies) became popular late in 1917.

Cantor also appeared in the Follies of 1918 and 1919, and though Ziegfeld abrubtly fired him in 1920 for his part in a strike by the Actor's Equity Association that forced closure of Broadway theaters, Cantor proved that he didn't need the producer to stay successful. Recording for Emerson Records from 1920 to 1922, Cantor remained in the spotlight with several popular songs, including one of the most popular of 1921, "Margie," plus "Palesteena" and "Snoops, The Lawyer." He also starred in two productions by one of Ziegeld's main rivals, the Shuberts.

All this was enough for the unusually stubborn Ziegfeld to hire him back by 1923. During the rest of the Roaring Twenties, Cantor cemented his popularity, recording several hits for Columbia Records ("No, No, Nora," "If You Knew Susie," "Makin' Whoopee") and appearing in his own production, Kid Boots -- adapted into his first silent picture by 1927 -- and the Ziegfeld productions Follies of 1927 and Whoopee!__Cantor was made a millionaire from his performances (though mostly from Whoopee!), but he was nearly ruined in the stock market crash of 1929. (He recouped much of his income by writing about his experiences in the book Caught Short.)

Early in the '30s, Cantor moved into radio, and soon became one of the most popular radio stars of the decade. His movie career took off as well: Cantor signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn to re-make Whoopee! in 1930 (it was the first in a line of early-'30s Cantor-Goldwyn teamings with show-stopping choreography by Busby Berkeley), and appeared in at least one film per year throughout the decade.

Cantor also supported the war effort vigorously, entertaining troops in Europe and forming the March of Dimes with President Franklin Roosevelt. He also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio Artists.

Cantor's transition from radio to television was briefly successful; he guest-hosted NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour> but suffered a heart attack in 1952, the same year Hollywood produced The Eddie Cantor Story. Another heart attack forced him into retirement, though he occasionally surfaced for guest appearances.

Cantor died in 1964 of a third heart attack.

Quotes:

“He hasn't an enemy in the world - but all his friends hate him.” ~Eddie Cantor

“Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” ~Eddie Cantor

Isham Jones led and broke up several bands during the 1920s and '30s, but his greatest legacy is as a songwriter, having composed "It Had to Be You," "On the Alamo," "I'll See You in My Dreams," "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else," and "There Is No Greater Love," among others. Although he was originally a saxophonist and pianist, Isham Jones did not take any real solos with his bands. In the early '20s, his outfit featured trumpeter Louis Panico, a pretty good soloist for 1921.

Jones recorded prolifically during 1920-1927, with most selections being jazz-oriented dance band performances.While his 1929-1932 recordings are more commercial, the musicianship is high and the melodic renditions are not without interest.Jones' 1932-1936 big band became the nucleus of the first Woody Herman Orchestra when Isham Jones decided to temporarily retire.He had another band in 1937 and recorded as late as 1947, but it is for his songs that he will always be remembered.

d. 1968Biography
~by Eugene Chadbourne
Sometimes credited as just plain Bill Blue -- not to be confused with several other performers who use that stage name -- this reed player came out of the St. Louis music scene, where his father taught music part-time. Blue was a popular player with quite a few local bands of that era, including the Wilson Robinson's Bostonians outfit, which introduced Blue to the rigors of the road. In 1924, Blue was associated with Charlie Creath, and the following year he vamoosed to New Orleans and joined up with Dewey Jackson. The latter player took Blue back home to St. Louis as part of his touring plans, but the reedman was basically right back out the door again, this time to New York City and an extended stint with Andy Preer & the Cotton Club Orchestra.

1928 marked Blue's first European tour as part of the Noble Sissle orchestra on an itinerary that had a great impact on foreign jazz audiences. Blue hung around Paris and collaborated with bassist John Ricks throughout the fall of that year. Then he was back in New York with the Missourians, a move that showed a smidgen of hometown loyalty, at least when it came to choosing a band to play in. In the early '30s there were also brief jobs with the zany Cab Calloway and the progressive Luis Russell. At this point, Blue's story becomes quite blue, however; he has few credits for the remainder of the '30s, apparently due to a breakdown in his health. The last years of his life were spent in a New York sanatorium, and he was buried in St. Louis. Colorblind jazz scholars sometimes confuse him with the trumpeter and saxophonist Thornton Brown.William Thornton Blue - Wikipedia

1902

Leo Corday, songwriter

b. New York, NY, USA.

1911

Bruts Gonella, Trumpet

b. London, England, UK.

né: Adolphus James Gonella.

Bruts was the brother of British trumpeter/bandleader Nat Gonella.

1915

Robert Leo "Bobby" Hackett

trumpet/leader

b. Providence, RI, USA.

d. June 7, 1976, Chatham, MA. USA.

Biography ~by Scott Yanow
Bobby Hackett's mellow tone and melodic style offered a contrast to the brasher Dixieland-oriented trumpeters. Emphasizing his middle-register and lyricism, Hackett was a flexible soloist who actually sounded little like his main inspiration, Louis Armstrong.

When Hackett first came up he was briefly known as "the new Bix" because of the similarity in his approach to that of Bix Beiderbecke, but very soon he developed his own distinctive sound. Originally a guitarist (which he doubled on until the mid-'40s), Hackett performed in local bands, and by 1936 was leading his own group. He moved to New York in 1937, played with Joe Marsala, appeared at Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert (recreating Beiderbecke's solo on "I'm Coming Virginia"), recorded with Eddie Condon, and by 1939 had a short-lived big band.Hackett played briefly with Horace Heidt, and during 1941-1942 was with Glenn Miller's Orchestra, taking a famous solo on "String of Pearls." Next up was a stint with the Casa Loma Orchestra, and then he became a studio musician while still appearing with jazz groups.Hackett was a major asset at Louis Armstrong's 1947 Town Hall Concert, in the 1950s he was a star on Jackie Gleason's commercial but jazz-flavored mood music albums, and he recorded several times with Eddie Condon and Jack Teagarden.

During 1956-1957, Hackett led an unusual group that sought to modernize Dixieland (using Dick Cary's arrangements and an unusual instrumentation), but that band did not catch on. Hackett recorded some commercial dates during 1959-1960 (including one set of Hawaiian songs and another in which he was backed by pipe organ), he worked with Benny Goodman (1962-1963); backed Tony Bennett in the mid-'60s; co-led a well-recorded quintet with Vic Dickenson (1968-1970); and made sessions with Jim Cullum, the World's Greatest Jazz Band, and even Dizzy Gillespie and Mary Lou Williams, remaining active up until his death. Among the many labels Bobby Hackett recorded for as a leader were Okeh (reissued by Epic), Commodore, Columbia, Epic, Capitol, Sesac, Verve, Project 3, Chiaroscuro, Flying Dutchman, and Honey Dew.

(Don't confuse with Benny Moten.)Biography
~by Eugene Chadbourne
The trombone was a particularly effective musical device in swing music, and not only for its slurs, slides, growls, and groans. Benny Morton was known for his beautiful tone, advanced use of chromatics outside of the key signature, and tasteful understatement. He took part in much of the essential music of the swing period; in fact, listeners undertaking an exploratory journey into the heart of swing music will run smack dab into the man wherever they may turn. For example, dig into the limited but miraculous discography of innovative electric guitarist Charlie Christian and Morton is right there bopping along. One doesn't have to be a jazz fan to appreciate the '30s and '40s recordings of vocalist Billie Holiday and Morton is one of the many great players whose contributions make these sides such pearls. He played with Fletcher Henderson and Count Basie and was the member of several of the best swing revival bands from later decades. He kept being invited out on choice gigs well into his '70s, yet tends to be seen as an undersung hero.

Despite all his fantastic contributions to landmark recordings, Benny Morton just isn't that well-known a name among jazz fans, unless one is talking to trombonists. He had a huge influence and has been cited as one of the great players by the likes of Kai Winding, Bill Watrous, and Eddie Bert, all top-flight doctors of the bone. The latter man even stopped Morton on the street outside a club and asked him for lessons. Morton obliged, inviting the then star-struck young man backstage to meet his heroes in Basie's band. He began playing trombone as a child, picking up most of his knowledge on his own. The Jenkins Orphanage Band was his first ensemble experience, although it is not clear whether the man himself was abandoned, which has been known to happen if parents get wind that their child might grow up to be a jazz musician. The trombone soloist in Mamie Smith's band, Dope Andrews, is said to be the first jazz player who caught Morton's ear. In 1923, Morton joined Clarence Holiday's band.

Three years with this outfit and he was ready to take on membership in the innovative Fletcher Henderson band, the first of a series of first-rank big bands that he would join, usually for extended stays. He was with Don Redman for six years and Count Basie for three, getting in on many Billie Holiday recording sessions that a handpicked crew of Basie alumni were involved in. He also worked with the orchestra of Chick Webb. Another notable credit was in the orchestra recordings of composer and arranger Raymond Scott, whose work was often used as the background for cartoons. In 1940, he made the transition toward smaller combos, becoming a member of a sextet led by pianist Teddy Wilson. This group has a reputation as one of the superior swing bands of its time and a great vehicle for the leader's abilities both as a pianist and a bandleader.

In 1943, Morton joined another small band, this one led by Edmond Hall. One of the few dates with Morton as a soloist was done in the early '40s, a 78 for Columbia that was a kind of trombone special. Morton had the A-side with his rendition of the "Gold Digger's Song," better-known as "We're in the Money," while the flip side featured fellow trombonist J.C. Higginbotham and the accurately titled "Hot Trombone Blues." Morton left Hall's band with designs on starting his own outfit, which he kept going for a few years before seeking the economic protection of employment in New York theater pit bands. Through this, he connected with many radio and recording studio band jobs, which largely kept him busy through the '50s and '60s. This type of career sometimes heralds the end of a player's involvement with creative jazz, but Morton kept his slide in with record dates involving players such as trumpeters Buck Clayton and Ruby Braff.

There was enough work on the jazz scene by the end of '60s to allow him to focus totally on swinging, and his accomplishments tell the story of a trombonist going out in a blaze of glory. He wasn't concerned with in-fighting amongst various branches of the swing genre and played happily with many artists of his generation. The Saints & Sinners band put him together with swing veterans such as Yank Lawson, Bob Wilber, and Bud Freeman. These seasoned jazz pros enjoyed the good life on tour, dining on gourmet sea food while gigging at the Pescara Jazz Festival in Italy in 1974. The Top Brass tour combined Morton with Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Doc Cheatham, and Maynard Ferguson to create a comprehensive overview of jazz brass, backed by a British rhythm section. He also worked with Wild Bill Davidson, Bobby Hackett, and Sy Oliver.

Morton's collaborations were too numerous and wide-ranging to be collected all in one place, but the Melodie Jazz Benny Morton 1934-1945 definitely pulls in some choice stuff, including dates with drummer "Big" Sid Catlett, trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen, clarinetist Barney Bigard, and tenor sax king Ben Webster. Morton's side of the Columbia single is included on this set. The Mosaic series also created a re-release collection of the Blue Note Swingtets, a project Morton created with clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton that also featured swing maestros Tiny Grimes and Ike Quebec.Benny Morton - Wikipedia

1898

Fred Rich, leader

b. Warsaw, Poland

d. Sept. 8, 1956

Biography

~by Bruce Eder

A major talent during the big band era, Fred Rich is one of those leaders whose name might well have disappeared entirely, but for the fact that several alumni from his orchestra went on to bigger and longer careers. Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1898, Fredric Efrem Rich emigrated with his family to America early in the twentieth century. The Riches settled in New York City, and Freddie, who showed great musical proficiency, took up the piano as a boy. By the time he was in his mid-teens, he'd found a very practical use for his talent, getting employment as a movie theater pianist; Rich's virtuosity and improvisation skills served him well, but he had ambitions beyond playing accompaniment to movies. Rich later studied at the Damrosch Conservatory of Music and, beginning in 1922, led his own orchestra at the Astor Hotel in New York.

One has to understand the social milieu in which Rich made his name to realize where that engagement, which lasted six years, put him. Hotel dance orchestras don't get much attention from music scholars today, but in their heyday, it was those ensembles -- and not the celebrated jazz bands of the 1920's and early 1930's -- that most Americans listened to, on the radio and on record. In 1922, when Rich started his gig at the Astor -- then one of the most prestigious hotels in New York, which meant the world as well in those days -- he was in one of the most enviably visible positions a band leader could occupy anywhere in America. At the time, radio was just coming out of early infancy as a commercial medium and soon started growing in popularity at an enormous rate. In the interim, Rich and his orchestra toured Europe in 1925 and 1926, and again in 1927 and 1928 -- even then, American bands could be assured of a rousing reception and big audiences almost anywhere in western Europe.

Starting with his first record in 1925, as leader of the Astor Hotel Orchestra, he also recorded extensively during the 1920's, leading studio ensembles whose ranks included more than their share of future jazz stars and legends, among them the Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey, Joe Venuti (who, with Eddie Lang, cut an extraordinary violin-and-guitar driven version of "I Got Rhythm" with Rich's orchestra), Bunny Berigan, Benny Goodman, and Tony Parenti. From 1928 until 1938, Fred Rich was the music director for the CBS network, making him one of the most important music administrators in the world. Indeed, the position was even more influential than it seems, because during those years, radio -- and not records -- were the major medium through which music was heard.

Getting on radio usually didn't pay a band or its members very much, but the exposure was vital, and far more important than having records out in those years. Rich conducted a lot of music himself for the network, and also determined what music was put over the network by other artists, as well as which orchestras and which soloists would be used on which shows. In essence, he could decide which composers got their music heard widely (or at all) on the CBS network, and which musicians benefited from the company's need for musical accompaniment. He had an enviable array of players to pick from.

The Dorsey brothers both turn up as soloists on his late 1920's and early 1930's sides, as do Venuti and Lang, and, most notable of all, Benny Goodman is on some of Rich's work as well, from the years when he was taking any work that came along. In 1938, Fred Rich left CBS and took a job as music director for various radio stations instead, while continuing to lead a band of his own -- included in the ranks of the latter was drummer Bill Peck, who fronted several latter-day big-bands as a vocalist in the late 1940's and early 1950's, in addition to taking a run at rock 'n' roll success. In 1942, Fred Rich became an executive in the music department at United Artists Studios, where business was booming at the outset of the decade. He remained there for nearly a decade, usually credited under the name Fredric Efrem Rich when he composed scores himself. Had luck been with him, Rich almost certainly would've been considered for a broadcast position in music, similar to his rival and colleague Paul Whiteman at ABC.

His days of performing and leading bands ended in 1945, however, when an accidental fall left Rich partially paralyzed. He kept his job into the early 1950's, before being forced to retire because of his injuries. Rich died in 1956, at the age of 58, after a lengthy illness. Rich was a top musician in a field that's not well written about or understood today, and an influential bandleader and administrator in a time when a lot of great and groundbreaking talents might've gone hungry if it hadn't been for him and CBS. His tenure at United Artists was more uneven, but his dance sides, which are just beginning to come out on CD in the 1990's, capture some of the vitality and originality of a period in which those attributes are often overlooked.Fred Rich - Wikipedia

1907

Emmanuel "Manny" Sayles, Banjo/Guitar

b. Donaldsville, LA, USA. d. 1986Biography
~by Scott Yanow
A longtime fixture in New Orleans, Emanuel Sayles was a valuable supportive player and an occasional soloist for decades. Although he studied violin and viola early on, Sayles was self-taught on banjo and guitar. After attending high school in Pensacola, Florida, he moved to New Orleans where he played with William Ridgley's Tuxedo Orchestra. Sayles worked with Fate Marable, Armand Piron and Sidney Desvigne on riverboats and in 1929 recorded with the Jones-Collins Astoria Hot Eight. After moving to Chicago in 1933, Sayles led his own band and worked extensively as a sideman in both jazz and blues settings, recording with Roosevelt Sykes. He moved back to New Orleans in 1949, performing with most of the top local players including George Lewis (who he toured Japan with in 1963-64) and Sweet Emma Barrett.

Sayles worked in Cleveland with Punch Miller in 1960 and spent a few years (1965-67) in Chicago working as a house musician at Jazz Ltd. After coming back to New Orleans in 1968, Sayles played with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and became a world traveler. Emanuel Sayles, who recorded with Lewis, Barrett, Punch Miller, Peter Bocage, Kid Thomas Valentine, Earl Hines (1975) and Louis Cottrell among others, also led his own sessions for GHB (1962), Nobility (1963), Dixie (1969) and the Italian Big Lou label (1969).Emanuel “Manny” Sayles « Jazz Age BanjoEmanuel Sayles - Wikipedia

Born in Mapperley, Nottingham, Stapleton began playing violin at age 7, and played on local radio at the age of 12. He performed on the BBC Radio often in his teenage years, and played in film orchestras accompanying silent films. He attended Trinity College of Music in London, and played in a dance band there led by Henry Hall. This ensemble also played on the BBC and made several recordings for EMI. After losing his position in the band, he went back to Nottingham and formed his own.

In the 1930s, Stapleton toured South Africa with the Jack Payne Orchestra. Later in the decade Stapleton and his band relocated to London; they won their own spot performing on the BBC in 1939. World War II interrupted Stapleton's musical career, as he joined the Royal Air Force late in 1939. While enlisted, he played in the RAF Symphony Orchestra.

Following the war, Stapleton played with the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1947, he recreated his band, and quickly won back slots on the BBC; among the singers he accompanied were Dick James and Frank Sinatra. As leader of the BBC Show Band, Stapleton became a fixture on the English musical scene, broadcast across the nation throughout the mid 1950s. Players in the ensemble who went on to fame in their own right are Bill McGuffie, Tommy Whittle, and Matt Monro.

In 1957, the BBC disbanded the Show Band, and Stapleton immediately reassembled his own group. He even managed two chart hits in the United States with the instrumental "The Italian Theme" and "The Children's Marching Song (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)". Stapleton continued to tour and record into the 1970s; in 1965 he also became head of A&R for Pye Records.

aka 'The Honeydripper'.Biography ~by Bill Dahl Next time someone voices the goofball opinion that blues is simply too depressing to embrace, sit 'em down and expose 'em to a heady dose of Roosevelt Sykes. If he doesn't change their minds, nothing will. There was absolutely nothing downbeat about this roly-poly, effervescent pianist (nicknamed "Honeydripper" for his youthful prowess around the girls), whose lengthy career spanned the pre-war and postwar eras with no interruption whatsoever.Sykes's romping boogies and hilariously risqué lyrics (his double-entendre gems included "Dirty Mother for You," "Ice Cream Freezer," and "Peeping Tom") characterize his monumental contributions to the blues idiom -- he was a pioneering piano-pounder responsible for the seminal pieces "44 Blues," "Driving Wheel," and "Night Time Is the Right Time."

Sykes began playing while growing up in Helena. At age 15, he hit the road, developing his rowdy barrelhouse style around the blues-fertile St. Louis area. Sykes began recording in 1929 for OKeh and was signed to four different labels the next year under four different names (he was variously billed as Dobby Bragg, Willie Kelly, and Easy Papa Johnson)! Sykes joined Decca Records in 1935, where his popularity blossomed.

After relocating to Chicago, Sykes inked a pact with Bluebird in 1943 and recorded prolifically for the RCA subsidiary with his combo, the Honeydrippers, scoring a pair of R&B hits in 1945 (covers of Cecil Gant's "I Wonder" and Joe Liggins's "The Honeydripper"). The following year, he scored one more national chart item for the parent Victor logo, the lowdown blues "Sunny Road." He also often toured and recorded with singer St. Louis Jimmy Oden, the originator of the classic "Going Down Slow."

In 1951, Sykes joined Chicago's United Records, cutting more fine sides over the next couple of years. A pair of Dave Bartholomew-produced 1955 dates for Imperial in New Orleans included a rollicking version of "Sweet Home Chicago" that presaged all the covers that would surface later on. A slew of albums for Bluesville, Folkways, Crown, and Delmark kept Sykes on the shelves during the 1960s (a time when European tours began to take up quite a bit of the pianist's itinerary). He settled in New Orleans during the late '60s, where he remained a local treasure until his death. Precious few pianists could boast the thundering boogie prowess of Roosevelt Sykes -- and even fewer could chase away the blues with his blues as the rotund cigar-chomping 88s ace did.Roosevelt Sykes - Wikipedia

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JAZZ AGE RADIO BROADCASTS!

That Gramophone Show showcases real music nostalgia when Neil Starr takes you on a trip down memory lane with music sourced exclusively off 78 RPM shellac records. Music covers anything from 1910 to the late 1950s. Radio Today (@Radio2Day) broadcasts on 1485 AM in Johannesburg and country-wide on DStv audio channel 869.

Join your host, Randy Brian, as he takes you on a time-travelling tour of the 1920s, '30s and '40s with hot jazz, dance bands, comedy and personality discs, big band swing, early blues, and other vintage records that keep alive the Spirit of 78. And there's a middle hour devoted to old-time radio drama and comedy, too.

Description:Glenn Robison's weekly, hour-long radio program of 1920s and 30s pop and jazz. Glenn plays 78 RPM records of "toe-tapping" music from hot dance bands, as well as sweet bands, novelty tunes, soundtracks, blues, jazz and more.

Description:Blues Before Sunrise showcases blues as part of a cultural landscape that includes jump and jive, rhythm and blues, swing, doo wop, gospel, comedy, and recitation, and never is the music presented as kitsch or retro fashion in the way that some music has been exploited and trivialized. For host Steve Cushing, the blues is a living African-American tradition with deep roots.LISTEN

THE IAN WHITCOMB SHOW is a rip-roaring rollercoaster of music from the golden age of Tin Pan Alley and British Music Hall through classic country & western and early R&B up until the British Invasion of the 1960s.

Step into the Club every Friday evening for a sampling of music from "The Jazz Age" with Guy Rathbun. Across the spectrum of pop and jazz from the late teens to the early 1930s, this weekly series invites you the share in the talents and tales of the musicians and performers that created an unforgettable era.

RADIOLA! is foremost a program of the best pop and jazz from the 1920s and 1930s, music which is unavailable anywhere else on local airwaves. These recordings shimmer with wit and levity, brim with deep joy, and beat with the pulse of life.

Every Saturday afternoon, Rob Bamberger stacks his recordings on a luggage cart and makes his way across the river to WAMU and what he calls his perch in studio four. From 8 until 11 p.m., the air is filled with vintage jazz, swing, and big band recordings from the '20s, '30s, and '40s.

jazz [jaz]–noun1. music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.2. a style of dance music, popular esp. in the 1920s, arranged for a large band and marked by some of the features of jazz.3. dancing or a dance performed to such music, as with violent bodily motions and gestures.4. Slang. liveliness; spirit; excitement.